Door-hanger.



A 7TORNE Y5 2 Sheats-Sheek I,

I I n n I: I f

m vflv/ro Patented Mar. 6, I900.

"m: Norms PETERS co. PNOTO-LITHQ, wnsumcwn, n cy (No Model.)

No. 644,845. Patented Mar. 6, I9Ul0. J. n. C'AEL.

DOOR HANGER.

(Afipllcation filed Aug. 2, 1899.1

(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Shaef 2.

WITNESSES W WW ma "ohms Farms :0, PHOTO-LITHOU WASHINGTON. a. c.

lln'rrnn STATES PATENT Orricn.

JOSEPH D. CAEL, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOIt OF ONE-HALF TO DAVID C. GILLESPIE, OF SAME PLACE, AND LANGDON B. VALENTINE,

OF NE\V YORK, N. Y.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 644,845, dated March 6, 1900.

Application filed August 2| 1899. Serial No. 725825. (No model.)

car-doors or generally'in connection with doors that open with a linear horizontal movement.

One of the objects of the invention is to enable the door to be supported laterally as well as vertically by pivotal support on swinging levers, so that it does not depend ontop and bottom tracks or guides for lateral support and is therefore substantially a floating door. This reduces friction'to a minimum.

A further object of the invention is the support of the door by the lower portion only and by supports directlyattached to the bottom frame or base of the structure-for example, the car-bod y. This is especiallyadvantageous in connection with car-doors, as the door-frame of the same is liable to become warped or displaced at the top, and this door being supported directly from supports attached to the comparatively-stable base of the door-frame and floating free or substantially free of the upper part of the doorframe'is not affected by such warping or displacement of the top of the door-frame, and therein it presents an advantage over the doors hung from the top of such frame. In conjunction with this feature my invention enables the arrangement of the'operating devices for the door beneath the door or carframe and the connection thereof through 0 the door-hanger mechanism to the lower part of the door, thereby insuring certainty in their operation, owing to the stability of their supports.

My invention comprises crossed or toggle 5 levers pivoted to supports and to the door and provided with means for retaining them in lateral position, for regulating their length of stroke, and for operating them to close and open the door, as hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a partof this specification, Figure 1- is a vertical transverse section of the end frame of a car, showing car-doors supported therein according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a section, on a larger scale, at right angles to Fig. 1, showing only the lower part of the car= door and showing the door-su pporting devices in end elevation. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the toggle-levers which carry the door.

The car-body is represented as comprising floor-frame a, floor I), end framing c,'and a guideway 07, extending above the door-space and forming, in connection with the vertical posts, cross-braces,and sheathing of the frame I 0, spaces wherein the doors e e maytravel- 'freely toward and away from one another by shown at 2', to a cross-piece j of the end framing 0, and a pin at its lower end slides in'a vertical slot Z in the door e. Lever g, which is connected to lever f by pivot m at the point where they cross one another, is pivoted at its upper end to the door 6 by a pivot n, and at a point below the common pivot-point m it is pivoted to the end of link 72, whose other end is pivoted to the end framing c at o. The stresses due to the weight of the car-door are applied at the points 'n k to the toggle-levers f g, and the vertical stress is taken up directly by lever f at pivot 1', while the lateral or end stress is transmitted through link It to pivot o, the door being thus supported wholly by the levers fg it both against direct downward movement and against tilting. The effect of this interconnected system of levers is to support the door freely and prevent endwise or sidewise tilting thereof,while enabling 5 pins 11 k will press the levers f 9 toward the dotted position, the said levers swinging past one another and the pin 70 moving vertically in slot Z, while the link it also moves vertically, the leversf g finally assuming the position shown in dotted lines when the dooris closed.

In order to regulate the motion of the door, so as to enable it to be projected or drawn out to an extent just sufficient to meet the other door or to close the door-space, I make the link h adjustable in length, it having an end portion or bracket 1) pivoted at 0 and adjustable on the link by means of set-nuts q q,

screwing on said link and engaging on either side of bracket 19. On lengthening the link the door is moved farther out, and on shortening the same the door isdrawn farther in.

The lever f is preferablyoffset at its lower end, as shown, so as to approach the door more closely. This offset portion being beyond the end of lever 9 does not interfere with the levers f g swinging past each other.

To cause simultaneous operation of the pair of doors 6 e, I prefer to provide operating mechanismconnecting the same, such mechanism comprising an endless flexible connection 1*, connected to lower ends of levers s, which are pivoted in or near the car-floor and are pivotally connected at the upper ends to the levers f of the respective doors. This chain connection passes over sheavestand is crossed, so as to cause reverse movement of the respective levers ff on opposite sides of.

the car. Upon moving either of the doors 6 e' to open it the other door will be simultaneously opened and a similar simultaneous closing will be effected when either of the doors is closed. The part of the operating connection 7 that does not have to pass over the pulley is shown as, consisting of rods to. This operating connection is located beneath the car-floor and below the level of thedoors, and all the supporting and operating devices are supported on or attached to parts of the car-frame that are in comparative proximity to the bottom or body of the car and are thus comparatively stable, and the device is thus not liable to be rendered inoperative by warping or loosening of the frame.

It will be noted that all the supporting-lever mechanism is arranged close alongside the door, is pivoted to the fixed support at a point substantially midway of the travel of the rear edge of the door, and is connected to the door at points near the rear edge thereof. The effect of this arrangement is that the throw of the door in opening and closing is equally on either side of the fixed pivot, so as to produce minimum distortion, binding, and straining efiects, and the lever mechanism is never projected beyond the jamb of the door, so that there is no danger of the 0perating-fingers being caught therein.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a door and asupporting-frame, of toggle-levers pivotallyconnected to one another, one of such levers being pivoted at its upper end, to the frame, and engaging at its lower end bya verticallymovable connection, with the lower part of the door, and the other lever being pivoted at its upperend to the door, a link pivoted to the frame and pivotally connected to the latter toggle-lever at a point below the common pivot of the toggle-levers, and means for adjusting the length of said link.

2. The combination with a door-frame and a door, of toggle-levers arranged at the lower part of the door and engaging at their upper ends respectively with the frame and the door, a vertically movable connection between the lower ends of one of the levers and of the door, a link pivoted to the frame and to one of the toggle-levers, an operating-lever connected to the other toggle-lever and piv= oted to the door-frame, and operating means connected to said operating-lever, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a door-frame and a pair of doors, of supporting and operating devices for each door comprising toggle-levers arranged at the lower part of the door, and engaging at their upper ends respectively with the frame and the door, a verticallymovable connection between the lower ends of one of the levers and of the door, a link pivoted to the frame and toone of the togglelevers and operating mechanism located below the level of the doors and levers connecting the operating mechanism to one of the toggle-levers of each door-supporting device.

4;. The combination with a door, of a system of su pporting-levers therefor, lying alongside the door, supported from a pivot substantially midway of the travel of the rear edge of the door, and connected to the door at points near the rear edge thereof so that when the door is fully extended the levers are not exposed.

JOSEPH D. OAEL. Witnesses S. R. OGDEN, FLORENCE M. STROCK. 

